Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
“Point taken.” I moved toward my bike, climbing on and readying to take off. “Go talk to Sting, so he can give Claw the heads-up.”
“You goin’ after her? I’ll back you up and worry about the other later.”
“I can’t let this go on. We’ll need more than two of us if he’s not alone. I don’t think I’ll have a problem with him, but he’s a big fucker. Get Roman to send me some more backup before you follow.” I started my bike and rolled out.
It took a few minutes to catch up to the little fuck, but once I did, I stayed back, putting a couple of cars between us. Hammer didn’t seem to pay me any attention as he zigzagged between cars headed from Evansville to a little place just outside the city. I kept pace, but kept my riding sane and within the law, but also made sure to keep traffic between us. I didn’t much care if Hammer got caught for reckless driving. That would make this all a whole lot easier. I just didn’t want him to get Scarlet killed in the process.
More than once, I saw Scarlet lose her grip on him, and I thought she’d go flying. He seemed to be deliberately goosing the bike in an attempt to make her fall. I saw him laugh when the girl nearly tumbled to the pavement. He was terrorizing her, enjoying the power play. I could only imagine how this was gonna play out once Claw heard about this. The question was, could I keep tailing the bastard without him knowing?
Chapter Three
Scarlet
We hadn’t been home too long when there was a knock at the door. Hammer had hit the bottle the second we walked in. Well, after he backhanded me, he hit the bottle.
“Get your ass in your Goddamned room and fuckin’ stay there.” Hammer gave me a threatening look. He needn’t have bothered. I recognized that particular tone of voice as one I’d better not ignore. And I’d better obey immediately.
He waited until I fled into my bedroom off the tiny living room before he answered the door. There was a pause before Hammer greeted the visitor like an old friend.
“Hey, man! Mars, right? How you doin’?”
“Was just concerned about your girl. She seemed like she could use a doctor. You know, Iron Tzars has a club doc. Stitches could take a look at her if you like.”
“Your doc’s road name’s Stitches?” Hammer barked out a laugh. “Ain’t no way in hell I’m lettin’ a doc named Stitches touch Scarlet.”
“You wanted to be part of Iron Tzars. Right?”
“Don’t mean I want no guy named Stitches patchin’ me up. We’re fine here.”
“You sure? Because Iron Tzars believes in protecting women and children. If there’s even the chance she needs medical attention, you should take my offer of help.”
OK, Hammer wasn’t going to like that. He never took criticism well. But there was no way he was going to let anyone look at any injuries I had. Especially not someone with real medical training.
“I told you. It was just a fuckin’ flu shot. She’ll be fine tomorrow. So how about you mind your own fuckin’ business, and I’ll mind mine.” I could almost see the congenial smile on Hammer’s face when he was actually seething. He did that. Smiled to make any perceived disrespect seem less.
“Take it easy. I’m only concerned. If you’re serious about being a member of Tzars, you have to know we look out for each other and our families.”
“I can take care of one small woman. Her daddy gave her to me because he knew I could protect her.” That nearly broke me down to tears. I couldn’t imagine my father knew how Hammer treated me, but I was biding my time until I could be sure he couldn’t harm my sisters. I heard more bikes approach and glanced out the window to see two more members of Iron Tzars MC roll up behind Mars’s bike.
“Gonna need to see her to make sure she’s good, man. Nothing personal. It’s what my club does.”
“Well, she’s asleep. Took some fuckin pain pills and went to fuckin’ bed. I ain’t wakin’ her up just ‘cause you want to see her. You tryin’ to bang my woman, motherfucker?” OK, that didn’t sound like he cared if he disrespected the other man or not. Which told me Hammer thought this Mars was an actual threat. Hammer was a big, intimidating man. Solid, bulky muscle. I thought my dad was grooming him to be Grim Road’s enforcer or sergeant at arms, but that was club business. And as far as I knew Hammer wasn’t an actual patched member yet. It was a forgone conclusion he would be, though. Or Dad wouldn’t have given me to him.
“All right, all right. She left with you willingly, so I’ll let it go. But these are things Sting’s gonna want to investigate.”